Their Tangled Fates
by Guineapigs1
Summary: Kyoko had been locked away in a tower for years until the most-wanted (by women and men for different reasons) thief climbs her tower. Desperate for revenge against her captor and to fulfill her dreams, she makes a deal with him, and together they begin an adventure that forever tangles their fates together. /AU based on Tangled. Part of the Disney Challenge of my own making!/
1. Chapter 1

**Thank you all for the amazing reviews on my first fanfic! I was so happy to read them, and I've decided to try writing a longer fic. I originally had the idea to do a Skip Beat! fic based on Tangled and then came across all of the Skip Beat! writing challenges that there were. The forums have been pretty inactive lately, so I decided to write my own challenge and post a fic! So here's the Disney Challenge! Feel free to also do the challenge if you want!**

 _ **Rules:**_

 _1) Take a Disney movie and write an AU fic using the characters of Skip Beat!_

 _2) Must end with Kyoko/Ren if there is a pairing included (if you want to do one without any romance then "be my guest")_

 _3) Must include at least 3 of these characters (but you can use any others too): Sho, Reino, Kanae, Yashiro, Lory, Maria, Chiori_

 _4) The story has to end at the end of the movie, not before or after. (so if there's no wedding in the movie, you can't write a wedding for the fic sorry)_

 _5) Try to stay as close to Skip Beat! character personalities as possible!_

 _6) Animal characters are allowed to be changed into human characters when necessary._

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own Skip Beat! or Tangled. Please enjoy and review!**

...

This is the story of how Ren Tsuruga died.

Don't worry, it's actually a really fun story and truth is, it isn't even his. This is the story of a girl named Kyoko Mogami. Her story starts in the kingdom of Kyoma. The queen of the kingdom had fallen deathly ill after becoming pregnant, and her husband searched everywhere for a cure. She got sicker and sicker each day, and her husband used up all of his energy trying to find the antidote to her unknown sickness. Finally, he was informed of a magical golden flower that had grown from a drop of sunlight that could heal any ailment. He sent for his guards to retrieve it at once, hoping he could save his wife in time. He wasn't the only one after the golden flower though.

Sho Fuwa had discovered the flower's existence and had used the flower's power to give him eternal youth to make all his fangirls swoon at his devilish good looks forever by singing a special song that gave him the power. Once he learned of the king's attempt to obtain the flower, he tried to hide it but was too late. The guards uprooted the flower to be made into a tea that when served to the queen instantly cured her. She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl with long auburn hair named Kyoko Mogami. The kingdom rejoiced at the new princess's arrival, but their joy was short lived. In the night Sho had snuck into the royal palace to cut off a strand of the girl's long hair to keep the magic forever, but when he tried, it turned black and instantly lost its magic. Sho was infuriated, and whisked away the baby in the night, never to be seen again. He took her to a faraway tower to keep her there and use her magic, and she was raised by the personal Okami and Taisho of Sho who had an insane amount of money to pay them due to his popularity as a local singer. After Kyoko had been able to take care of herself, Sho forbid the Okami and Taisho from ever going to the tower again. Thus, Kyoko was left by herself most of the time. Sho occasionally came to visit Kyoko to utilize her magic by brushing her long hair, but he left just as quickly. Kyoko started to love Sho, and every time he came back she would happily let him brush her hair as long as she could be with him. But she also loved to watch the beautiful stars that would appear in the sky every night on her birthday. Little did she know that those were the lanterns released by her parents every year on her birthday, hoping that the lost princess would one day come home.

...

Kyoko happily sweeped the floors of the tower she had called home for the past 16 years. She was excited since she knew that Sho was coming back that day. She cleaned every corner of the tower and cooked a delicious meal, awaiting his arrival. Usually her days would consist of painting, cooking, reading, voodoo doll making, and curse casting to name a few, but today was different. She wasn't only going to see her precious Sho-chan, but she was going to ask him to take her to see the floating lights on her 17th birthday!

"Kyoko. Let down your hair," Sho called out from below the tower.

Kyoko excitedly ran to the window and threw out her crazily long hair to hoist Sho up the tower. When he successfully got up, she gave him a big hug and let him eat the pudding she had made especially for him.

"Ey, Kyoko let me brush your hair now," Sho coldly said after finishing the pudding.

"Sure, Sho-chan!" Kyoko happily exclaimed. She hurriedly sang the song that Sho usually sang to use her hair's power so that she could tell him of her birthday wish.

"Hey! Why did you rush like that Kyoko?" Sho spat.

"I want to see the floating lights!" Kyoko exclaimed.

Sho paused. "What are you talking about, stupid girl? There's no such thing."

"I know there is! I see them every year on my birthday!"

"No. You can't see them." Sho firmly stated.

"Why not?" Kyoko asked dejectedly.

"The world is filled with dangers like pinhead pretty boys and love obsessed presidents. You wouldn't survive one day out there. And besides, you're my servant. That's the only reason why I brought you to this tower. You can't live on your own out there. You're too plain and boring with no sex appeal," Sho cockily stated.

Kyoko grimaced in pain as a box opened inside her, and she fell to the ground in heartbreak. She had loved Sho only for him to tell her that he only was with her since she was a servant! She wanted to cry, but her inner grudges had been released which made her laugh internally. She was going to get revenge! She would show him! She could survive in that outside world and see the floating lights! Then he would take her back and love her! But for her plan to work, she needed to get him out of the tower for a long period of time to sneak away.

"Fine," Kyoko said with concealed rage as she got up from the floor. "Then can you at least bring me back new paints on your next trip out?"

Sho clicked his tongue in annoyance. He had expected a different reaction from this girl at his servant comment. How boring. "I'll think about it," he said while climbing out the only window of the tower.

"Eh?! Sho-chan, when are you coming back?!" Kyoko wailed, but she was too late. He had left.

Kyoko then let the evil grin she had been hiding slip onto her face. She had been acting back there to put her plan in motion. How she had such acting skills, she had no idea. She started madly dashing around her room thinking of her incoming revenge against Sho.

...

Ren ran away as fast as he could with his insanely long legs. As a famous thief, he had wanted to steal the ultimate prize: the lost princess's crown. Now all of the palace's guards were after him for his satchel containing the crown. He had managed to use his devilishly handsome good looks to flash a dazzling smile at the guards which consequently caused all female guards to stop pursuing him as they melted into puddles at his gaze. As he ran from the remaining guards, he saw a gathering of vines out of the corner of his eye. Managing to turn a corner and jump onto a branch above him like a fairy, he was able to get the guards to pass by him without noticing him. He then ran to hide behind the vines just in time as another troop of guards ran past him a few seconds later. After the guards had all left, he realized that there was something hidden in the cave behind the vines that he had hidden behind, so he decided to walk through the cave. It turned out to actually be a tunnel that led to a secluded tower. He decided that it was as good a spot as any to hide in, so he began to climb the tower. When he reached the top, he pulled himself safely inside and sighed in relief, but his sigh was interrupted when he was knocked unconscious by a frying pan smacking him in the face.

...

Kyoko was terrified at the strange man that had entered her tower. It wasn't Sho, so she didn't know who he was since she had never met any men other than Sho and the Taisho. It didn't look like he was a love obsessed president, but could he be a pinhead pretty boy? She tied him to a chair with her hair just in case while taking the satchel he had brought with him. As she opened the satchel, she saw a beautiful crown with diamonds surrounded by small pearls and small sapphire flowers set in a gold frame. There was a beautiful stone in the middle of the crown that switched colors from dark blue to a light amber when she held it up to the light of the window. She tried on the crown in front of her mirror and felt that she was a true princess like the ones in her books as she gazed at her reflection. When she heard a soft groan from her prisoner, she ran to put the crown in the satchel, and she threw it into a pot to hide it.

As Ren woke up and glanced at his fuzzy surroundings, he noticed that he was in a small room. It looked like a bedroom of some sorts, but he didn't know who the owner of it was.

"Who are you?" He heard a female voice say. He tried to get up from the chair he was currently sitting on but found that he was being bound by- hair?

"I asked, who are you?" A small young girl stepped out of the shadows. Ren had to admit, she was beautiful.

"My name is Ren Tsuruga. To whom do I owe the pleasure of my company?" Ren said with a gentlemanly smile. He was annoyed that this weird girl had bound him in her own hair, but he could make any girl swoon from his smile and comply to any of his demands. That was why he was able to steal things so easily. This girl would be a piece of cake.

Kyoko froze. She had never seen smiles being used as weapons, but she was sure that the dark aura around this man was subconsciously portrayed through his smile.

"Why did you come here? Are you here to cut my hair?" Kyoko glared.

"What? Of course not! I just want to get out of your hair. Literally," Ren replied.

"Wait. Really?"

"Of course!" Ren paused.

"Well then I'll let you go... if you take me to see the floating lights!"

"Sorry, but I can't do that," Ren tried again with a gentlemanly smile.

"Why not?" Kyoko asked, wary of his lying smile again.

"The lantern display is inside the kingdom, and right now the kingdom and I are not on really good terms," Ren replied. He then remembered how he had ended up in her tower in the first place and panicked. "Wait! Where's my satchel?"

"I've hidden it. Unless you take me to see the floating lights, I won't give it back to you."

Ren looked around. He was a professional thief, so of course he knew where the most obvious hiding place was. "It's in that pot isn't it?" Ren motioned with his head.

Kyoko gasped before regaining her composure. "It doesn't matter where it is. I'll give it back to you if you accept my deal. I promise. And when I promise something, I never EVER break that promise." Kyoko said seriously while staring him in the eye.

This girl was one of the first to not be affected by Ren's gentlemanly smile. He was going to have to try a different strategy. "Okay. You've forced me to do this."

Kyoko froze as Ren gave her a look that sent shivers down her spine. The only words she could use to describe the look were "Emperor of the Night". For some reason, her heart started beating erratically. She decided to hit Ren with her frying pan again to stop him from affecting her the way he did.

"Ow!"

"Stop that look! Will you take me to see the floating lights or not?" Kyoko said, clearly annoyed by this guy's antics.

"Fine! I'll take you." Ren said sighing.

Kyoko immediately untied Ren from her hair at his agreement of her deal.

"Who even are you?" Ren asked.

"My name's Kyoko Mogami!" Kyoko exclaimed happily. "And I WILL get revenge on Shotaro for using me as a servant and denying my only request from him ever to see the floating lights!"

"Is that your reason for trying to see the lanterns, Mogami-san?"

"Yes!"

"Well then I particularly find your motivation disgusting. Anything motivated by revenge isn't worth it," Ren said harshly.

Ren grudgingly walked to the tower window and started to climb down. When he looked up, he saw that Kyoko wasn't following him down. He hoped his harsh talk made her rethink the deal she made with him. "Are you coming down or not?" Ren called out.

Kyoko paced around her bedroom as she took deep breaths. Was she ready to do this? She grabbed her trusty frying pan and hooked her hair around the pulley that Sho used to get into the tower using her hair as a rope. She ground her teeth at the thought of Sho. Of course she was ready. She was going to get her revenge! She steadied her hair, then jumped into a world full of adventure and the unknown.

...

 **I hope you liked the first chapter of my new fanfic! I think this fanfic will be about 5 chapters in length, so please review and follow for more content! Thanks for reading the first chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I hope I didn't make you all wait too long for this next chapter. Thank you to everyone who followed this story, favorited it, or commented. You guys inspire me to write quicker so that I can get chapters out as quick as possible! Please remember to write me a review to tell me how I'm doing! Thanks, and enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own Skip Beat! or Tangled.**

...

Kyoko hadn't answered his question yet, so Ren decided to climb back up to see if she wanted to stay in the tower and give him his crown back instead of blackmailing him to be her babysitter. He heard a yelp, then looked behind him and saw a blur of orange hair trailing behind a young girl wearing a purplish old dress as she fell down the tower.

As Kyoko descended her tower, she felt a rush of cool outside air that she had never experienced before. She grinned wildly. If only she had gotten out of her tower before! It felt so good to be outside without Sho!

At the thought of Sho, Kyoko let her newfound grudges fly around her. Due to her extreme anger, she almost missed how the ground was getting closer and closer. Right at the last second before she would have splat onto the ground, Kyoko yanked on her hair and stopped her descent. Cautiously, she put out her bare feet to test the ground. As she touched the grass with her toes and stepped fully onto the ground, she felt an onslaught of excitement. Finally her dream would come true! Kyoko frolicked around the grass, looking for the fairies she had heard of so many times in the stories she read.

Ren finished climbing down the tower to see Kyoko lost in la la land. He felt amused at the girl's antics for a split second before remembering that once he brought her to the lights, she would give him what he wanted.

"Are you ready for your dream to come true yet?" Ren asked with a fake gentlemanly smile.

Kyoko's grudges came out to bask in Ren's dark aura, which drew her out of her fantasies about fairies. Realizing that he had been waiting for her for who knows how long, she went into a dogeza.

"Gomennasai! I'm really sorry for forgetting that you were here and then causing you to wait for me. I know I'm a big burden to you, and I'm such a lousy blackmailer-"

"Instead of apologizing, let's just get going," Ren said as he started walking towards the passageway to the outside world.

"Hai!" Kyoko replied while running after him.

...

The pair walked through the forest with Ren hiding his annoyance at having to babysit this girl and Kyoko being amazed at everything around her. When the sun was nearing the middle of the sky, Ren suddenly had an idea on how to scare Kyoko back to her tower. "You must be hungry! I know the perfect place to eat!" Ren said with mock enthusiasm.

Kyoko at the mention of food was unable to see Ren's true intentions and replied with an excited "Hai!" since she hadn't eaten breakfast that morning.

...

Going towards the kingdom to visit all his fangirls and sing at the Akatoki tavern, Sho stopped when a group of the kingdom's guards approached him. They hadn't found out about Kyoko, had they?

"Excuse us, citizen. Have you seen this man? He was spotted near here recently," one of the guards asked holding up a wanted poster.

As Sho took a look at the picture, he noticed immediately who the man was. He grit his teeth in anger at the one man in the kingdom who was more popular than him. Ren Tsuruga. Notorious thief. He could make any girl fall in love with him in one smile...

Sho froze. He hadn't journeyed that far away from the tower where he held Kyoko. "I have to go home and check on my property," Sho said before sprinting towards the tower. As he sprinted through the vines concealing the tunnel that led to Kyoko, he called out her name.

"Kyoko! Let down your hair!" Sho yelled.

With no answer from the top of the tower, he removed a loose brick from the bottom of the tower and started to remove more bricks to get through the wall. Once he could get through, he ran up the stairs to the hidden trapdoor that led to Kyoko's bedroom. He threw open the hatch to a dark room devoid of any inhabitants. In a rage at the loss of his property, Sho threw his shoe at a nearby pot, causing it to explode on impact. After his tantrum had subsided, he went to pick up his shoe and saw a satchel that had been hiding in the pot. When he looked inside the satchel, he found the lost princess's crown. Only one thief would be able to steal that crown, and Sho would go show him that he couldn't steal Sho Fuwa's property. Sho grabbed a knife and headed out to find the thief who had taken his Kyoko.

...

"Where are we going?" Kyoko asked.

"We're going to a place called LME," Ren replied.

"Ooohhh! It sounds like a fun place!" Kyoko replied perkily.

As the pair approached a normal looking tavern that had a sign saying LME, Kyoko started jumping up and down in excitement like a little kid about to get candy.

"What do they serve here? Do they have hamburger and egg?" Kyoko asked with sparkles in her eyes.

"You'll see," Ren replied as he opened LME's inconspicuous looking door. As Kyoko and Ren walked in, Kyoko held onto Ren's arm in fear. The inside of the tavern was filled with tough looking men and women dressed as thugs. A couple of them smiled at her with full mouths of gold teeth. At the center of the pub with a spotlight on him (Kyoko wasn't sure where the spotlight came from), was the toughest looking thug complete with a hook on his right hand.

"Welcome to LME," the mysterious man said.

"OMG! It's Ren!" A bearded lady yelled. This caused screams everywhere, and dozens of the heart-eyed ladies launched themselves at Ren.

Kyoko hadn't seen anything like this place in her life, but she had magical hair for crying out loud. This wasn't that hard for her to take in after she got a little used to it.

"Who are you?" Kyoko asked the man with the hook.

"Me? I'm Lory Takarada!" The mysterious man smiled. Looking over at the hoard of fangirls piled on Ren, the president grinned.

"So my boy, have you found love yet?" Lory asked. At the mention of love, Kyoko's grudges came out. Lory looked wide-eyed at the girl's strange reaction to love.

"I would appreciate if you didn't get into my love life, sir," Ren replied from under the pile of women. Even though he could have the pick of any woman he wanted, he didn't ever stress over finding a lover. He had never been truly in love before, but he did have some girlfriends. When they would tell him that they were in love with someone else, he would encourage them to follow their hearts. They would then run away crying about how he didn't care enough about them to fight to keep them. He didn't really care when they left.

"Then who's this girl?" Lory asked, motioning to Kyoko while playing with his fake hook that was part of today's costume. All of the thugs were dressed in costume as well. They weren't real thugs. Lory had a tendency to be eccentric over his establishment, so every day there was a new theme. Today just happened to be thug and ruffian day.

"Oh! Gomennasai! I completely forgot to introduce myself! I'm Kyoko Mogami!" Kyoko said dropping into a bow, completely looking over the real meaning in Lory's words.

"Ah! You're the first girl Ren has ever brought here willingly," Lory responded, trying to show that Kyoko could have a special place in Ren's heart.

"Tsuruga-san suggested this place as a nice place to eat lunch!" Kyoko said.

"Are you here with Ren, or could I have the pleasure of stealing you away from him?" A dark haired man asked Kyoko.

"Kijima Hidehito," the man introduced himself in a mock bow.

"Huh? Why would you want to steal me away from him? He's already taking me to the floating lights," Kyoko asked.

"She's not interested," Ren said with a glare towards Kijima. Kijima stormed out of LME with a scowl on his face. That Ren! He always took any ladies that Kijima had his eye on!

"So how did you meet Ren?" Lory chimed in.

At Lory's question, Kyoko went into her rendition of how Sho had called her a servant to how she had blackmailed Ren into taking her to see the floating lights. During her explanation, Lory's expression shifted between one of disapproval for what Sho had did to her to a look of amusement especially when she described knocking Ren out with a frying pan to the head.

She also spoke of her dream to see the floating lights that came out every year on her birthday, which elicited surprise out of Lory who in turn asked her age. He was even more surprised at her answer. He smiled as his suspicion was proven correct. He hoped she would have the happy ending she deserved when she went to the kingdom.

During her tale Ren offered to buy her food as he was a gentleman, and when she said she could eat anything that he ordered, he ordered frog legs. Kyoko paused in her retelling to scream at the scared waiter not to make frog legs and that a hamburger and egg would be fine instead.

"This has already been such a fun adventure! I don't think I ever want to go back to my tower!" Kyoko exclaimed as she smiled between bites of her favorite meal.

Little did she know who had been listening to her exclamation outside a nearby window. Sho seethed in anger at how he had lost his property, and how happy she sounded to have escaped him. He unconsciously gripped his knife tighter. That Tsuruga was going to pay. Sho was about to barge into the restaurant to reclaim his prisoner until he heard the clamor of a troop of guards planning to ask if LME had spotted the famous thief Ren Tsuruga anywhere. He smirked before hiding behind a bush to let the scene play out. Luckily he could still look in the window from his hiding spot to see that bastard get what was coming to him.

The head guard neared the door and knocked loudly calling out, "Open the door! We are here to ask of any sightings of Ren Tsuruga!"

At the sound of the guards, Ren stilled. Lory quirked an eyebrow in amusement. He didn't know what Ren had managed to steal this time, but from the sound of it, he was wanted for something big. Lory rolled his eyes. This kid got into way too much trouble.

"Come! Follow me!" Lory motioned behind the bar. A few seconds after Kyoko, Ren, and him were hidden, one of the drunk patrons of LME accidentally opened the door to let the guards in. Good thing they didn't spot Ren. After making sure that both Kyoko and Ren had followed him, Lory pulled down a hidden switch behind the bar counter which opened a secret passageway.

"Go live your dream," Lory said.

"I will," Ren answered.

"I wasn't talking about you. You probably don't even have a dream. You're too boring," Lory rolled his eyes.

"Thank you," Kyoko said with a smile.

Lory let his eyes wander to Ren. He wondered if Ren knew how he was looking at the girl. Lory chuckled, and flicked the switch to seal off the secret passage. Young love was an amazing thing to witness in real life. Usually he would only see it in his choose your own romance books.

Outside the window, Sho fumed at how the thief had gotten away. Lory had just let them escape! The guards wouldn't be able to find out anything! There needed to be justice! Before Sho knew it, he had already entered LME and walked behind the bar.

"Hey! I saw them go over here and disappear earlier!" Sho said. The guards immediately came over to him, looking for a switch of some kind. Sho found the hidden switch first and pulled it to reveal the secret tunnel that Ren and Kyoko had escaped into. Lory sighed. He knew of this Sho Fuwa from his rival, Akatoki tavern, where the boy frequently sang, and he knew of how the boy had hurt Kyoko. He hoped that Kyoko and Ren could outrun the guards as they sprinted into the secret passage.

"Where does that tunnel let out?" Sho asked menacingly while putting his knife up to Lory's nose. Lory's eyes widened. He couldn't get killed by Sho today, at least not before hearing the wedding bells for Kyoko and Ren's wedding.

...

Kyoko and Ren walked through the secret passageway with Ren holding a lantern for light, and Kyoko holding her frying pan for protection.

"I didn't know that you'd been through so much when I met you earlier," Ren stated.

"I know. I haven't told anyone that story before. I didn't meet anyone except for the nice couple that raised me and Sho before today," Kyoko said while pulling a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She paused before asking, "Tsuruga-san? Where are you from?"

Kyoko froze in her tracks when Ren turned a gentlemanly smile towards her. "Sorry, but I don't do backstories. I would appreciate it if you don't try to pry into mine."

Kyoko was able to breathe again when Ren's dark aura dissipated. "I do have a question for you, though. Since you've been dreaming to see the floating lanterns your whole life, why haven't you tried going before?"

"Eh…" Kyoko started before she heard the sound of people running. She looked behind her to see a faint light growing in brightness every second.

"Ren Tsuruga! Stop right there!" The head guard called out.

"Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko asked worriedly.

"Run!" Ren called out as he dropped the lantern to grab her large pile of hair so that she could run. They dashed towards the light at the end of the tunnel which came out to a ledge above a river in a canyon. Further away was a tall dam. Kyoko spotted a cave about 30 feet away below them next to the lake.

The guards came out of the tunnel and approached the pair slowly with their swords drawn. Kyoko looked at Ren worriedly before she spotted a tree on another ledge in the canyon. She suddenly had an idea.

"Hold on!" Kyoko called out before looping her hair around the tree and grabbing Ren's hand. He grabbed her hand and wrapped his other hand around her waist right before she used her hair to swing to a ledge across the canyon. The guards tried to pull down a support beam of the dam in order to make a bridge across to their ledge. They didn't notice that water had started to leak out of the dam due to their actions.

Ren grabbed an armful of Kyoko's long hair and they both climbed down several ledges until they reached the bottom of the canyon with the guards in hot pursuit. Kyoko had been leading Ren to the cave she had seen earlier when the dam suddenly burst. Everyone ran as quickly as they could to escape the impending wall of water. The guards were slammed into by the giant wall of water, and the force of the water was enough to knock over a column of rocks. The spot that the column was falling onto was right where Ren and Kyoko were! Just in time though, they made it into the tunnel with the column of rock blocking their entryway.

...

 **Thanks for your continued support of "Their Tangled Fates"! If you like Kyoko and Ren fluff, please don't hesitate to check out my other story: "A Heartbeat is Always Truthful"!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey all! I've finished most of this story already, apart from rereading for errors and that. There should be only 2 more chapters left till the end. As this is one of the first times I've done an AU fanfic, I apologize for sometimes being OOC. I tried to follow the plot of the movie while staying true to the Skip Beat! characters, but sometimes there were some scenes that needed to be a little OOC to work out. I'm sorry for not including any of the songs for those of you who like those, but I really don't like reading song fics or writing them.**

 **On a separate note, I thank you all for the comments you've left me! Whenever I read them they put a smile to my face, and they really encourage me to keep going. So thank you, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

...

While Kyoko caught her breath, Ren tried to find an exit from the cave but found that they were both trapped. There was just enough of a gap from the rock blocking their entrance to let water come rushing through, slowly filling up the cave. He ran up to the highest ground he could find and motioned for Kyoko to join him. After she was a little more safe, he dived into the water to try to find an escape, but came back up finding nothing. He dived back in to try again, and this cycle repeated. Meanwhile, Kyoto tried to bang her frying pan against the rocks around her to try to knock one loose and escape. Ren eventually stopped looking in the water for an escape and tried to push any rocks around him and Kyoko that were loose. He pushed every rock, and at one point sliced his hand on a sharp one. Ren grimaced in pain before again diving into the water and coming back up a few seconds later. He didn't think that he would find anything, but he was desperate.

"There's no use! I can't see anything down there!" Ren said.

Kyoko took a deep breath before diving in herself, but Ren pulled her out with his hands wrapped around her waist.

"There's no point, Mogami-san. It's too dark down there," Ren told her.

With the water in the cave already up to her elbows, Kyoko started sniffling. "I'm so sorry for bringing you along with me. If only I hadn't tried to follow my dreams and leave that tower, then both of us wouldn't be stuck here. Now we're both going to die down here! I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Tsuruga-san."

"Kuon." Ren interrupted her.

"What?" Kyoko was confused by what he meant.

"My real name's Kuon Hizuri. At least someone should know." Ren smiled sadly.

The water had already reached both of their necks. Wanting to reveal something about herself in response to one of Ren's secrets, Kyoko let out a small laugh. "I have magic hair that glows when I sing."

Ren looked at her like she was delirious. Kyoko paused for a second when she realized what she had just said.

"I have magic hair that glows when I sing!" Kyoto exclaimed.

 _"Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine-_ " Kyoko sang before the water rose up to her mouth. She took a deep breath before both her and Ren plunged into the dark water.

Suddenly, her hair started glowing. Ren opened his eyes wide, and gasped before realizing he was underwater. Kyoko opened her eyes and looked around at the newly lit cave. She spotted some loose rocks near the bottom. Ren noticed them as well, and both of them swam to the rocks to start digging themselves out. After removing some rocks, Ren was able to get his hand through to the outside, and they were washed out into a lazy river. They swam up and pulled themselves onto the river bank. Both of them were coughing wildly.

"We're alive!" Kyoko exclaimed between coughs.

"Your hair glows…" Ren mumbled.

"Alive!"

"Why does you hair glow?" Ren mumbled again.

"Kuon!" Kyoko woke him out of his stupor. "It doesn't only glow," she said with a grin.

...

Sho waited at the exit of where the tunnel led out with his knife ready to strike whoever came out. Unfortunately for Sho, out came Kijima who had tried to follow Ren and Kyoko for the reward money of Ren's capture. He had been swallowed up by the water as well when the dam burst, and was coughing as he came out of the now water-filled tunnel.

"I'll kill him! I'll get that crown Ren stole and claim that reward for it! He won't take what's mine to take again!" Kijima shouted in anger.

"Hey," Sho cockily stated while strutting out holding Kyoko's hidden satchel. He pulled out the crown.

Kijima scowled and drew out his sword. Sho threw the satchel to him with a grin. Kijima looked up at him bewildered.

"Well if that's all you wanted, then you can go turn it in for the money. I _was_ going to offer you something worth a thousand times that crown, and that wasn't even the best part," Sho smirked.

"What's the best part?" Kijima asked.

"Revenge on that pinhead Ren Tsuruga," Sho smirked evilly. Kijima smirked back.

...

Kyoko and Ren had built a fire to warm themselves up after their escapade in that freezing water. They sat next to each other on a log with Kyoko slowly wrapping her hair around Ren's cut hand.

"What are you doing?" Ren asked before grimacing in pain when she squeezed his injured hand too tightly.

"Sorry!" Kyoko squeaked. She finished wrapping his hand and looked at him to judge his expression. He was able to control his expression again, but there was still some apprehension about what she was doing. She decided to just start.

 _"Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine. Make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine. Heal what has been hurt. Change the Fates' design. Save what has been lost. Bring back what once was mine. What once was mine,"_ Kyoko sang with a beautiful voice that could rival that of Sho's. She unwrapped Ren's hand which was good as new without a cut anymore and looked up into a stunned face.

"How long has your hair been able to do that?" Ren asked.

"Uh… Forever, I guess. Sho said that when I was a baby people tried to cut it, but once it's cut it turns black and loses it's power." Kyoto shrugged.

"A power like that has to be protected, and that's why Sho never let me-" Kyoko stopped.

"That's why you never left that tower," Ren finished her sentence.

They both sat in silence. Kyoko spoke up first after sighing at the silence.

"So your name is Kuon Hizuri?"

"Yes." Ren said.

Kyoko really wanted to hear his story and scooted closer to him to encourage him to start talking.

Ren sighed. "I was reckless in my youth. My parents were famous merchants, and I tried to follow in their footsteps. Only, everyone chastised me for only succeeding because of my parents. I grew up too quickly into the adult world, and it was a dark place. My only friend was a guy named Rick." Ren stopped and sighed again before continuing. "I got into lots of fights, and lots of people were after me. Rick got into a carriage accident one day from guys who were trying to kill me. I couldn't forgive myself for his death. One day, Lory offered to take me to his kingdom to start anew as Ren Tsuruga, so I took the chance. He expected me to become a merchant like my parents with my new identity, but I ended up stealing food to survive when the paycheck from being a merchant was too low. Soon I found that it was a lot more easier to steal than be a merchant." He looked at Kyoko to judge her reaction.

She smiled at his revealing of a new part of himself. "Could you please not tell anyone else about this?" Ren asked.

"Don't worry. I won't." Kyoko smiled. Ren gave her a heavenly smile which made all her grudges disappear and caused her heart to beat erratically. She froze.

Seeing Kyoko's scared expression, Ren thought he had done something wrong. To clear the tension in the air, he offered to go get some more firewood for the dwindling fire. As he walked away, a certain someone strutted out of the bushes they had been hiding behind.

"Tsk. I thought that pinhead would never leave you alone." Sho clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Shotaro…" Kyoko grumbled in anger. "How did you find me?"

"It doesn't matter. What matters now is that I've gotten back my property. Let's go, Kyoko." Sho roughly grabbed her arm.

"No! I won't go with you, Sho! I'm not yours anymore! I won't be your servant again!" Kyoko pulled her hand out of his grasp.

"So you're obsessed with that thief now?" Sho smirked.

"No! I swore off love because of you using my love for you for your own personal gain! I won't fall!"

"Oh really? And what if you do?" Sho smirked.

"I- I'll come back to the tower and be your servant with no complaints!" Kyoko yelled back in anger.

Sho smirked. "You'll come back with me anyways when you find out that he doesn't even see you like that. What's there to like? You're just a plain, boring girl with no sex appeal." Sho stated. "He'll get bored with you soon enough. You should just come back with me now," Sho grabbed her arm again.

"NO!" Kyoko yelled as she jerked her arm out of Sho's grasp again.

"Fine! You'll come running back to me soon enough anyways," Sho threw the satchel with the crown at her.

"Wha- How did you get this?" Kyoko asked.

"Give it to him! This is why he's here! You'll come begging to be with me when he leaves you!" Sho fumed.

"Mogami-san?" Ren had gotten back from collecting more firewood to see the scene playing out in front of him. Kyoko quickly stuffed the satchel into her dress when she had heard a voice, turned around, and gaped at Ren's sudden appearance. Sho took the opportunity to grab her arm again. He grabbed her roughly around her waist with his other arm and slammed his lips onto hers. She tried to wrench herself out of his grasp, but it was no use. She wasn't strong enough. The kiss went on for what seemed like forever with Ren standing surprised at the intensity of the kiss. Finally, Sho released her and grinned before somehow disappearing into the night.

Kyoko roughly wiped at her lips that had just been vandalized by Sho. She broke down crying. She had always thought that Sho was her prince, but he had just stolen her first kiss! She had always dreamed that her first kiss would be with a prince riding on a horse, but it had been taken by a passionless kiss.

Ren stood silently as Kyoto poured her eyes out.

"Mogami-san… By any chance, was that your first kiss?" Ren asked to break the silence.

Kyoko looked up at him with tears in her eyes and nodded. Her jaw dropped when he chuckled.

"Is a first kiss really that important? With how much you're crying, you would think the world is coming to an end. Aren't you acting a bit ridiculous?" Ren asked.

Kyoko thought for a second and stopped crying.

"I mean, you couldn't really call _that_ a kiss. If you call any time two pairs of lips meet without each person's feelings in a kiss then I had my first kiss at 7 years old. I ran around a corner right into someone else." Ren said.

Kyoko looked at him then tears started falling from her eyes again.

"Kuonnnnn…..What a sad first kiss!"

"I don't consider it my first kiss since there weren't any romantic feelings in it. Your first kiss is only what you think of as your first kiss. This is called the rule of the heart. I hope that you too can go by the rule of the heart," Ren explained.

Kyoko's face had dried during Ren's explanation, and she smiled up at him. "I will."

"Just remember that you can only use it with the same person once in your private life." Ren added with a hint of jealousy. Kyoko didn't notice his jealousy though.

"Yes! That makes sense! Thank you, Tsuruga-san!" Kyoko exclaimed before catching herself. "Ah! I meant Hizuri-san."

"Please. Call me Kuon, Mogami-san." Kuon stated.

"B-but, if I call you K-kuon-san, then you have to call me Kyoko-chan!" Kyoko stuttered out.

"Okay then, Kyoko!" Kuon said with a heavenly smile which caused his addressee to freeze up. She then started to seethe in anger since that was how that Sho-baka referred to her. She started to mumble curses aimed towards her enemy.

Kuon was slightly hurt that she had started to become angry after he said her name. She had started to mumble Sho's name. Even if he had told her to not think of it as her first kiss, it was too hard for her to forget about that incident. He came up with an idea to let her forget about that kiss with Fuwa while also succumbing to his own desires.

"Thank you for accepting me as Kuon, Kyoko-chan." Kuon smiled while standing in front of her before placing his hand next to her on the log. He was suddenly in front of her with his lips dangerously close to her own. She froze. Kuon inched his lips closer to her own before turning his head and giving her a peck on the cheek. When he backed away, he gave her a genuine smile. She was still frozen. He decided to settle down for the night and leaned his head on a rock to fall asleep while she was still sitting frozen.

When Kyoko broke out of her trance, she found that Kuon had already fallen asleep. She blushed as red as a tomato at what he had just done. How could she fall asleep peacefully after that? Why would he give her a kiss on the cheek just for accepting him as Kuon.

Did he like her? This thought caused Kyoko to blush even more if that was even possible. No. She had locked up her heart when Sho had crushed it. But for some reason whenever Kuon looked at her with those heavenly smiles, she felt her locks being unlocked.

But why would she be special to him? She's the one who blackmailed him and almost got him killed! He wouldn't do that sort of thing to a person he doesn't like...

Or... Maybe he was one of those guys who did that to any girl. A playboy! That's the only explanation!

Kyoko nodded at the conclusion she had come to. That playboy probably did that kind of thing to any girl! He said that he wasn't from Kyoma, so he probably didn't know that kissing was a very intimate gesture in Kyoma. He probably just kissed anyone whenever he felt like it. He could get away with it. He was the most handsome guy she'd ever met.

Kyoko started to lie down on the ground and found a rock to use as a pillow. Kuon was just a playboy, so now she wouldn't be in inner turmoil thinking about his kiss and be unable to fall asleep. She sighed happily as she made herself comfortable enough to fall asleep, dreaming of her birthday dream coming true the next day.

...

In a grove of trees that hid them from onlookers but allowed them a perfect view of their targets, Sho and Kijima watched as Kyoko fell asleep. They were too far away to be able to hear any conversations between the two, but they could still see their actions. Seeing that both Ren and Kyoko had already fallen asleep, Kijima tried to venture out of their hiding spot before Sho shot his hand out in front of him.

"Good things come to those who wait," Sho said. Kijima backed down.

Sho was actually fuming inside at Ren having erased his own kiss from Kyoko's mind with a simple kiss on the cheek. When he saw the deep red blush that had appeared on her cheeks, it made him want to throw his knife at that bastard Tsuruga. Why hadn't she blushed like that after _he_ kissed her? He had even kissed her on the lips! That pinhead had only kissed her on the cheek! The only way that he had prevented himself from attacking Ren immediately was by thinking how Kyoko might run away and never let him use her powers again if he did. He just needed to remind her of where her loyalties lied before getting rid of Ren.

Sho knew one thing for certain, though. He was going to kill that thief if it was the last thing he could do.

...

 **Once again, I thank you all for reading this chapter! Like I said in the beginning, I'm not sure if Kijima really fits into the role of the Stabbington brothers, but he was the only character that I could think of to use apart from Murasame who I didn't want to include without the rest of the Tragic Marker cast. Also Ren was probably a little OOC this chapter along with Kijima, but I hope you can forgive me!**

 **Please leave me a review if you have the time! Feedback really helps me to know how to develop my writing for future fanfics in the works.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'll be honest. This was the hardest chapter of this fanfic to write. It'll probably be the hardest to read. I really hope that I did this part justice, and please don't hesitate to tell me if I don't.**

 **Hopefully you enjoy this chapter, but I understand if you want to kill me by the end of it.**

...

Kyoko skipped happily across the bridge that led to the kingdom of Kyoma. Kuon smiled to himself at how cute she was with her fascination of the kingdom. She waved him over, and they both entered through the archway that marked the entrance to the village. She strode ahead of him only to be pulled back by the multitude of people that stepped on her long hair that trailed behind her. Kuon noticed a group of young girls braiding each other's hair and was able to get their attention and motion them over to Kyoko. They excitedly ran over to braid her long hair complete with pretty flowers and ribbons intertwined as well. Kyoko squealed in delight at her reflection in the town fountain, and thanked each of the girls profusely for making her look so beautiful.

While she was getting her hair braided, Kuon had managed to snag two cute little cupcakes. She thanked him as he handed her one and savored the flavor of the foreign delicacy. She had always made her own pastries, so trying someone else's was a very delicious experience. Kuon had also given her a cute hot pink flag with the kingdom emblem. It had a hand shaped like an L with a heart and a 've' that spelled out Love and below there it said 'Me'. Kyoko felt a sense of deja vu from the emblem, but she didn't know why. When she spotted a library, she dragged Kuon into it and they spent a couple of hours reading tales of princesses and fairies.

When they exited the library, Kyoko looked at a boy who was placing down flowers in front of a mural. She overheard him ask his mother when the lost princess Kyoko would come back, but she wasn't able to hear the mother's reply. She looked at the mural after the young boy and his mother had left and assumed that it was of the king and queen and their lost daughter. For some reason when she looked at the daughter, she felt that the baby looked familiar...

She lost her train of thought and turned immediately when she heard the beginnings of a band starting to play local music. Hearing someone else's music other than Sho's was refreshing. She started dancing in the middle of the square until she that saw no one else had joined her. She went to the sidelines to those watching her and grabbed a couple to join her. Soon, at least 10 people were dancing happily to the tune of the band.

Kyoko pulled away to grab Kuon's hand and pull him in as well before they were pulled two different ways by the switching of partners. Kuon gave her a little shrug, and for some reason she felt a little irritated at the non-local gesture. She was able to forgive him for the irritating shrug though and kept trying to get close to him to dance with him. However, it got harder as more people joined in the crowd of dancers, and Kyoko and Kuon didn't end up together until the final chord of the song sounded. They both laughed awkwardly as the crowd of people around them clapped. Many of the townspeople started leaving the square, and Kuon took Kyoko's hand to lead her away as well.

…

Kyoko didn't know that Kuon had rented a boat to watch the floating lights from earlier when buying the cupcakes. He had led her to the docks where a boat sat waiting especially for the two of them. He offered his hand to let her climb in first like a true gentleman, and then he took the job of rowing them out of the dock. Kyoko looked in wonder at the multitude of houses that surrounded the queen and king's castle. Kuon, however, was looking at the beautiful girl in front of him instead of their passing scenery. He would unconsciously smile to her cute reactions to all the passing houses. He had known when she had saved his life at that time. He was in love with her.

"Where are we going?" Kyoko asked with stars in her eyes.

"The best view of the night," Kuon said as they slowed down to a stop.

As the boat stopped, both leaned on the edge of the boat, looking towards the castle. Kyoko sighed.

"I've been dreaming my whole life to watch the floating lights rise into the sky on my birthday. What if it's not everything I dreamed it would be?" Kyoko sighed.

"It will be," Ren assured her.

"But what if it is? What do I do then?" Kyoko asked.

"Then you get to have a new dream," Ren said when the first light came out. Released by the king and queen themselves, soon other lanterns all followed suit. The whole town suddenly lit up as everyone lit up their own lanterns that rose up into the air. Nearby boats saw the lights and raised their own lanterns. Kyoko was entranced by the lights she had been dreaming of seeing in person her whole life. When she turned back to Kuon, he was sitting there smiling with two lanterns looking directly at her. She sat in front of him smiling before realizing that she needed to do something for him as well.

"I have something to give you, and I would be very grateful if you would accept it!" Kyoko said holding the satchel containing the crown out for Kuon to take. He looked genuinely surprised that she had offered the satchel to him. He looked straight at her then guided her hands down until she dropped the satchel to the bottom of the boat. He held out the lantern for her to take, and when they brushed hands, Kyoko felt a flutter in her stomach. Together, they both released their lanterns at the same time. They watched as their lanterns soared up into the sky to join the thousands of others above them. Kyoko unintentionally grabbed Kuon's hands in her own. They both gazed at each other's eyes affectionately before Kuon caressed her cheek with one hand. Kyoko's heart skipped a beat. He pulled her cheek gently towards his as she closed her eyes expectantly. As he started to close his eyes though, he saw a green light coming from the shore near them. Standing there, smirking, was Sho Fuwa. He stopped drawing Kyoko's face to his right before their lips touched. Kyoko opened one eye to his confused face.

"Is everything ok?" She asked.

"Yes. There's just something I need to take care of first," Kuon replied. He paddled them towards the shore where he had seen Fuwa and got out with the satchel. "I'm sorry, there's just something I need to take care of."

"Okay?" Kyoko said.

"I'll be right back," Kuon said before wandering through the trees towards where Sho had disappeared to. After Kyoko was out of his sight, he was met face to face with Kijima instead.

"So, you're working with Sho to get the crown? Well here you go. I don't need it anymore. I'll just be on my way," Kuon threw the satchel towards Kijima and started to walk back to Kyoko. That was, until he felt an arrow fly right next to his face before getting stuck in the tree behind him.

"I heard that you found something much more valuable than a crown. I want the girl instead." Kijima grinned.

…

Kyoko had waited in the boat for Kuon to come back and was relieved when she saw a figure approaching her through the foggy night.

"Oh! There you are! I was starting to think that you left with the crown..." Kyoko said until she could see the figure more clearly. It wasn't Kuon.

"He did."

"What?!"

"See for yourself," Kijima motioned to a departing boat. Kyoko squinted towards the person steering the boat, and tears started to form when she saw that it was, in fact, Kuon. She could recognize his body proportions anywhere.

"Fair trade. A crown for the girl with the magic hair. I wonder how much someone will pay to stay young forever," Kijima said as he opened a big sack.

"Please no! Kuon, help! No!" Kyoko screamed as she ran backwards, away from Kijima. She stopped running as her hair got ensnared in a branch. She tried desperately to pull it out, fearing hopelessly trapped. She squeezed her eyes shut, knowing the inevitable was about to come until she heard a grunt accompanied by someone getting hit multiple times by a bat of some sorts.

"Kyoko!" Sho called out.

"Sho-chan?" Kyoko had untangled her hair, and walked back towards Kijima to see if it was really him. There he was, standing with a bat in his hand over an unconscious Kijima, smirking.

"I followed you here, Kyoko. I couldn't trust that thieving pretty boy. I couldn't let him lay a hand on my property. I saw you and him about to kiss on that boat, so I'm here to collect my end of our little deal. Come back and be my servant. Come on. Before he wakes up," Sho motioned to the knocked out Kijima as he started walking in the opposite direction.

Kyoko looked sadly around herself with tears in her eyes. She took one last look at the kingdom before she begrudgingly followed Sho. Her dreams had come true, but this wasn't how she dreamed that she would feel afterwards. She had been abandoned yet again by a person she loved. All for a stupid crown.

…

At the docks back on the mainland, the guards stationed were alerted by the sound of a boat gently knocking into the harbor. They looked to see what happened, when they spot Ren Tsuruga tied to the boat with the missing crown in his hands.

"Kyoko?" Ren groggily asked, still waking up after being knocked unconscious by Sho from behind while talking to Kijima. When he opened his eyes, he saw the guards running towards him.

"Kyoko!" Ren called out as he was dragged away by the guards.

What was going on?

On the other side of the kingdom, Lory woke up from a nap with a bad feeling. He had been dreaming of a romantic story whose main characters were no other than Kyoko and Ren, and he feared that they were in danger. He immediately grabbed his cloak and motioned for his assistant to prepare his horse.

…

The next day, Ren paced around the cell he had been thrown into. He had had a restless night, unable to think of anything but Kyoko. He had no idea where the girl was now, but he knew he needed to get back to her. He had a feeling that she was in danger. He was so lost in thought, that he didn't even notice when a group of guards opened his cell with a ring of keys.

"Let's go," the head guard said.

Ren snapped out of his reverie when he heard the head guard. "Where are we going?" Ren asked.

The guards didn't respond, only glaring at him. Ren unconsciously wrapped his hands around his neck. He had a faint idea as to where he was going.

…

Back at the secluded tower, Sho picked out flowers from Kyoko's now unbraided hair. She sat motionless looking downward as he finished picking out the last of the flowers from her hair.

"Tsk. Kyoko. Stop crying." Sho clicked his tongue in annoyance before leaving her room. When he left, she carefully pulled out the pink flag from her pocket that Kuon had given to her earlier. It was the one thing she had left of her dream that had come true, reminding her of the cheerful days before. She leaned back onto her bed, sighing at the events of the past few days, and brought the flag out in front of her. If only the words on the flag could bring others to actually love her. To love Kyoko.

Suddenly she remembered the day before with a boy placing flowers in front of a mural for the lost princess Kyoko. At the time, she had thought it was a coincidence that she shared the same birthday and name as the lost princess. As she turned the pink flag over in her hands, she read the writing on the back. 'Logo created by Lory Takarada for King and Queen Mogami'. Mogami. The royal family's last name was also Mogami. That meant that the lost princess's name was Kyoko Mogami. Kyoko got up from her bed to look at herself in the mirror. She suddenly remembered a scene from her childhood. She remembered two happy faces peering down at her in her cradle. The same two faces that had been on that mural. The king and queen. Kyoko lost her balance as she realized what this meant. She was the lost princess.

…

In the kingdom dungeons, Ren was being led to his execution by a pair of guards. He looked at the cells around him and suddenly saw Kijima. Ren knocked out the two guards with his cuffed hands, and grabbed Kijima by the collar.

"How did you know about Kyoko? Tell me!" Ren said with an ungentleman-like glare. If Kyoko had been there, she would have dubbed the look 'Demon Lord'.

Kijima cowered back in fear. "It was that singer!"

"Singer?" Ren asked as the guards grabbed him again. Suddenly realization dawned on him. The only singer he knew that it could be was Sho Fuwa.

"Wait! She's in trouble! I need to save her!" Ren panicked to the guards as he tried to escape their holds.

...

"Kyoko? Are you still crying up there?" Sho called out from below while flipping nonchalantly through a magazine. Kyoko walked into the room he was in with a determined look. "I'm the lost princess." Kyoko quietly muttered.

"Tsk. Speak up you boring girl." Sho grumbled as he put down his reading material.

Kyoko glared at Sho. "I'm the lost princess. Aren't I?"

Sho was taken aback. "Why would you think something like that? A plain boring girl like you couldn't possibly be a princess!"

Kyoko's grudges held Sho back long enough for her to pace past him. "I've been hiding away from other people all this time when I should have been been hiding from YOU! And to think at one point I even considered you my prince! I'm leaving!" Kyoko yelled at him.

"Yeah? Where will you go now? That criminal? He's going to be hanged for his crimes!" Sho tried to grab her hand before she flicked it away.

"I'll never let you use my hair again!" Kyoko screamed at him as she pushed him away. Sho glared at her. If she wouldn't let him use her hair again, he would just have to force her.

…

Ren and the pair of guards stopped as the door in front of them appeared to be locked. The guards banged on the door, yelling for it to be opened to let them through. Suddenly, Lory and his entourage kicked down the door from the other side, flattening the guards that had previously knocked on it. They were dressed like barbarians and stunned the guards with their weird costumes for long enough to attack them, knocking them all unconscious. Lory smirked at Ren before they both looked behind to see more guards running towards them. Lory quickly grabbed the handcuff keys off an unconscious guard and unlocked Ren. They ran in the opposite direction from the approaching guards out to an open courtyard. Lory grabbed Ren's shoulders and steered him to stand on a certain spot.

"Okay, my boy. Listen carefully. Head down. Arms in. Knees apart."

Ren followed his instructions and was surprised when someone landed opposite him. He flew through the air from the catapult, praying that Lory hadn't just sent him a death warrant. His prayers were answered when he landed on the back of a horse. The horse was startled by the sudden landing and started sprinting forward with Ren on its back towards the woods. Ren steered the horse towards where Kyoko's tower was, and soon approached the tunnel hidden by vines. He unmounted the horse and ran through the tunnel, calling out for Kyoko.

"Kyoko! Please! Let down your hair!" Ren called out. With no response, he started to climb the tower until Kyoko's long orange hair was let out from the window. He grabbed on and climbed the tower using her hair as a rope. As he pulled himself into the window however, he saw Kyoko with her hands and feet tied up and her mouth covered with a bandana. She tried to talk with the bandana over her mouth to warn him of Sho who was standing behind him with a knife. Her scream is muffled when Sho plunged the knife deep into Ren's back, and pulled it out. Ren winced in pain and fell to the ground, trying to hold onto where the knife had entered him and stop the bleeding.

"Look what you've done now, Kyoko. It's alright. Our secret will die with him. And now we're going where no one will ever find you again! Stop fighting!" Sho yelled as he pulled the chain which she is bound to. She struggled to get away until her gag fell out.

"No! I will never stop fighting! I will try and try to always get away from you, Shotaro!" Kyoko heavily breathes. "But if you let me save him, then I'll go with you. I'll never run, I'll never try to escape. Let me heal him and we can be together forever!" Kyoko said.

"No... Kyoko..." Ren choked out in between coughs.

"I promise. Just let me heal him." Kyoko pleads. Sho sighs before going to Ren and chaining him to the wall.

"Just in case you think about following us." Sho glared at Ren.

Kyoko ran to Ren's side after Sho untied her. "Kuon!"

Kuon coughed and winced in pain. Kyoko opened his vest to see the wound, and apologized and apologized for causing him this pain. The wound was deep, and he wouldn't survive if she didn't heal him.

"No. Kyoko... I can't let you do this." Kuon coughed out.

"But I can't let you die..." Kyoko retorted.

"But if you do this, then you will die," Kuon choked out again.

Kyoko tried to reassure him that she would be alright. She needed to save him, or else she wouldn't be able to live with herself. She loved him, and she wouldn't let him die. She kept tying her hair around his chest until he choked out, "Kyoko. Wait." as he stroked her cheek with his last ounce of energy. She leaned towards him, expecting a kiss before she would be taken away from him by Sho forever. Kuon looked at her one last time before taking a shard of glass from Shotaro's last tantrum where he had broke a mirror and never cleaned it up. Kuon used the shard of glass to cut off all of Kyoko's long hair. His hand fell limply to the side as her hair started to all turn black.

"Kuon! No!" Kyoko wailed as she touched her now fully black short hair.

"NO!" Sho screamed out. He tried to grab any strands of Kyoko's orange hair, but it was all quickly turning black. He quickly aged due to the magic disappearing from the world, and pulled his hood over his face to shield himself from view. He stumbled backward so that no one could see his face, but he couldn't see where he was going and stumbled out of the window. Kyoko reached her arms out, but he had already fallen out. As Sho fell down the length of the tower, his hood fell off and he stared at the window where he had just fallen out of until he hit the ground.

Up in the tower, Kyoko looked back at Kuon after Sho fell out of the window. "No. No. Kuon!"

Kuon coughed out weakly. "No! Stay with me Kuon!" Kyoko cried out. She grabbed his hand and put it to her hair as she sang the healing incantation. " _Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine…"_ She looked back at Kuon's face as she sang and tears started to flow out as she realized that it wasn't working.

"Kyoko." Kuon said weakly. She looked at him with tears in her eyes, sobbing.

"You were my dream," Kuon said before becoming limp.

"And you were mine," Kyoko quietly cried while hugging his dead form close to her.

" _Heal what has been hurt. Change the fates' design. Save what has been lost. Bring back what once was mine. What once was mine_ ," Kyoko sang out while caressing Kuon's cold face. She cried while hugging Kuon and putting her head to his silent chest. The pain in her chest would never go away. The pain she felt would be the worst she would ever feel. The pain from being abandoned yet again by someone she loved, and the pain from her realizing she would never be able to hear Kuon's melodic voice ever again raked through her body as she sobbed and sobbed over his limp form.

...

 **You're all going to kill me for this cliffhanger, but I just had to do it. I hope you liked this longer chapter up until that ending. Next chapter will be a lot shorter, but it's also the last chapter so I hope you all can forgive me. I'll try to get it out as soon as possible, but in the meantime while I write it I'll probably release a short one-shot that I wrote. Hopefully that can make up for the wait for this next chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's the final chapter for all of you lovely readers! After reading comments for my new oneshot that I put out, I was motivated to finish this last chapter a few days earlier than expected. Thank you for those comments. This chapter is really short compared to the other ones, but I hope you can forgive me since the last chapter was longer than usual. I hope you enjoy the final chapter of _Their Tangled Fates_!**

 **...**

Kyoko cried for who knows how long over Kuon's limp body. Her first love was dead, and she had lost the only thing able to save him in return for her own safety when he had cut off her hair. She couldn't believe how much it hurt to lose her first love, and she cried with the pain it brought her. A stray tear landed on Kuon's cheek. Kyoko sobbed while hugging Kuon and didn't notice when the tear faded into his skin. It gave a soft glow before light erupted from his wound. Kyoko stared at the light erupting, bewildered, and she was taken aback when the light dissipated into the wound just as quickly as it had burst out a few moments prior. She checked the wound and saw that it wasn't there anymore. She was still holding onto Kuon and dared to hope when she felt his previously cold body get warmer. Could she hope?

"Kyoko?" Kuon groggily said.

"Kuon!" Kyoko cried out before enveloping him in a bonecrushing hug. With his regained strength, Kuon returned the hug. Kyoko pulled back before looking at him with a playful expression. He wondered why she had that gleam in her eyes until she grabbed his collar and yanked his lips onto hers in a passionate kiss. Their feelings for each other were both poured into that kiss which sent electric sparks through both of their spines. Forgetting the world around them, they were both lost in a world only the two of them shared. They kept kissing with the same intensity until they couldn't keep on kissing due to lack of oxygen. They both panted heavily as they parted, both out of breath.

"I'll count that as my first kiss." Kyoko grinned before leaning in for another kiss just as passionate as the last.

...

The king and queen of Kyoma had been informed of a girl claiming to be their daughter waiting for them in the throne room. They had immediately rushed over there and were greeted by the sight of a couple standing with their backs to them, hands intertwined. When they had heard the door open, they spun around to look at the king and queen. As the queen looked at the girl, she felt tears come to her eyes. The girl looked exactly like her missing daughter but with short black hair. She could still tell that it was her daughter though. The queen ran up to her long lost daughter and hugged her tightly. The king also came up and enveloped the two in a group hug with tears in his own eyes. As the united family hugged, Kuon couldn't help but feel content for this family that deserved all the happiness in the world after being torn apart years prior. The queen looked up at him through the hug and motioned for him to join in as well. Not wanting to ruin their family moment, Kuon politely shook his head until the queen grabbed his hand and dragged him into the hug. It was a truly heartwarming scene of a reunited family.

…

At the word of the lost princess's return, the whole kingdom of Kyoma rejoiced, and a kingdom-wide party was held for an entire week! In that party Lory and his entourage performed many times, but the whole kingdom was surprised when Kuon and Kyoko stepped up to join them in performing a story called Dark Moon. All of the girls watching squealed at Kuon's dark, handsome and brooding character while everyone in the kingdom cowered in fear at Kyoko's interpretation of a hateful and malicious yet elegant young lady. Kuon and Kyoko had been able to give Kijima a royal pardon, who apologized for his wrongs and acted with them during their performance of Dark Moon since he was also a part of Lory's thespians. As their performance finished, all who watched cheered wildly, and many gave a standing ovation. Kyoko and Kuon strode off the stage, meeting Kyoko's parents in a group hug yet again. At last, Kyoko was home and finally had a real family. All of the kingdom loved their princess, and she fit into the role of princess perfectly.

After the Dark Moon performance, Kuon, who had immediately been pardoned when he returned Kyoko to her family and swore to change his thieving ways, announced his real name. His parents, who had not contacted him for years as he wanted to make sure that he was not seen to have any ties to them whatsoever, arrived at the kingdom the next day, and there was another group hug and family reunion. And a slap from a very irritated Julie to Lory who she had dubbed 'Kidnapper-kun'.

Now you're probably wondering what happened between Kyoko and Kuon. Did they ever get married? Well I am pleased to say that they did, and a very delighted Lory was asked to be the best man. In his speech he took credit as the first to realize that the couple would end up together in the end, and he of course advocated that love was a necessity for everyone. When Kyoko threw the bouquet, it was surprisingly caught by a little woman named Jelly. When she had caught the bouquet, she had run to Lory and kissed him squarely on the lips. What happened between those two though, is a story for another day.

Kyoko and Kuon finally had the happy ending that they deserved. They had each other and also had two loving families who they had finally reunited with. Their dreams had come true, and they both lived happily ever after.

—THE END—

…

 **Yay! They had a happily ever after! This chapter while short, took me the most time out of all chapters to write for some reason. I wanted it to be a fluffy as heck chapter, so I hope it's fluffy enough.**

 **Thank you so much for reading! This is my first multiple-chapter fic that I've completed, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. This has been a fun story to write, and I hope it has also been fun to read! I'm going to be working on another multi-chapter story soon that will probably be longer than this one, so please check that one out too if you like my writing! Thanks for reading my work!**

 **Author Notes:**

 _ **I know a lot of you always want more out of kissing scenes, but I'm really inexperienced in writing them. I haven't kissed anyone before, so I write these scenes like I read them in other fanfics. I hope that for now they are good enough, at least until I get more comfortable with writing them.**_

 _ **I apologize for any grammar or spelling errors in my fanfics. I always proofread and am pretty good at catching errors while writing, but sometimes I miss things. I don't have a beta reader either, so there may be a few errors. I am pretty confident that these errors don't affect the stories though.**_

 ** _All of your comments are super nice, and I really can't wait to write more stories for you all!_**


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